This type of gardener skips those tasks that can’t be done with gloves on, like seed sowing. She (or I suppose it could be he) just doesn’t do gardening work that is best done bare-handed. She (or he) may have spent as much on a manicure or maybe even faux nails in a given week as on plant material in the garden.

3. The “I started out with gloves, now where are they” gardener.

You know how sometimes you start out with gloves on, and then you have to take them off because you just can’t do what you need to do with gloves between your hands and the plant or seed or dirt or whatever? And then you move on and keep gardening and see something that you should wear gloves to do, like pull some thistle, and that’s when you realize your gloves are clear over by another flower bed and your hands are now dirty. That’s this type of gardener.

4. The “gloves are the exception, not the rule” gardener.

This type of gardener generally prefers to work barehanded and only wears gloves when absolutely necessary, like when thorns or poison ivy are involved. They accept that their hands are going to get dirty, and figure they can wash them up just as well as they can wash up a pair of gloves.

By my hands, I am a Number 3 type gardener, with some tendencies to Number 4. That's my hand in the picture above, after I had planted all the violas and panises in containers last Friday, bare-handed, obviously.

I suppose I am a four, but my mom would much rather have me be a two or three. She grew up on a farm in Alabama and I've seen her garden my whole life - but you will not find a more ardent advocate for hats and sunscreen and hand lotion and gloves! Which is why she insists on sending me gloves - as though we might not have such things in Montana...

When I started to read this post I was thinking you were going to say something different. I thought it was another post that I have seen other bloggers write about their favorite garden tools. Like a shovel or hoe. And when I started to read the first paragraph I thought to myself that my hands are my favorite tools. I laughed when I read further and that was what you were talking about.

I am a #4 with tendencies towards #3 but would be like to be able to dress like a #1 ha. I hate using gloves when I have to transplant and seed and just general things. I do use gloves when it's stuff that will rough up my hands or cut me. I don't mind the dirt at all just the cuts.

I'm #5 - wear gloves as much as possible, but never had a professional manicure, don't own a bottle of nail polish, just can't stand the feeling of dried mud on the skin. (Maybe I've got sensory problems.) Bare hands for minute seed-sowing & seedling thinning only. Wears mismatched gloves because of holes worn through glove fingers. (I know, I always have to be different.)

I was a 4, well actually I think I was a 5 - didn't wear gloves even when I should have. . .

but DH has harrassed me enough that now I'd say I'm a 3. And now that I make my living gardening, I wear gloves a lot more. My hands still get a lot of wear and tear, even wearing gloves as much as I do now. I like the nytril coated ones in bright colors because they're easier to find when I set them down somewhere. Last year I wore out 3 pairs of gardening gloves.

I started out as a 2, but soon figured out that there's a lot of stuff that doesn't work with gloves on. So I'm definitely a 3 who gets her exercise retrieving her gloves from the strange places she leaves them around the yard. Like the wheelbarrow under all the leaves.

In Texas, I am a 3, because the limestone ground tears my hands to shreds...in other states with actual dirt, I am a 4. I love the dirt...I know it was a good day gardening when I am covered in dirt and have to rinse off with the hose before stepping foot indoors.

I'd have to say I'm between type 3 and 4 somewhere. I used to always wear gloves but there are so many things you can't do with them on. I still wear them whenever I have to do any heavy duty work to prevent blisters or when planting trees and plants where I don't need precision. I agree, you definitely can't plant seeds with gloves!

I'm a 3...our soil is really drying and I've scraped and cut myself more than my fair share so I have trained myself to wear gloves. I do take them off to plant seeds,tie supports and water. And I have several pairs of gloves ranging from Foxgloves for when I need fine motor control to cotton for lightweight work to leather for thorns or any sharp stuff. Now if I could just stop scraping my arms all the time...

Like Oldroses and Pam I'm number 4 all the way. I have several pairs of gloves but hardly ever wear them, just can't be bothered. I forget to put them on, forget where I left them, and for many jobs their really not all that erm handy. ;-)

Gloves? I can never find a pair when I need them, so I never wear them. Actually did you know the dirt is healthy for you? They are finding out that those who work with dirt, manure etc are less prone to certain cancers. Cool, huh! Apparently it's healthy for the immune system.

Like VP, I can't bear not to have my bare hands in the dirt, touching the plants, etc. (Sensualists of the world, unite!) There are only two exceptions: Like Robin, I don latex gloves, but only when pulling poison ivy. And I bought a fabulous pair of "thorn-proof" gloves on a garden tour of England and Wales years ago--the gloves and two autographed books by Alan Bloom were the only things I brought back!--and wear them when I'm tackling anything prickly.

Carol, I like to tell people who stare askance that my hands have had a "trench manicure". I predict the fashion for dirty undernails will soon sweep the nation and be available at fine salons and garden centers everywhere. Number 4 all the way!

I'm somewhere between a 3 and a 4 though I often persuade myself wear gloves so I won't have to listen to lectures from doctors as they patch up gory wounds.

I wear heavy leather gloves for rough work and seem to wear out a pair or two per season. For fine work I go barehanded. I'm even getting less squeamish about the thought of contacting worms.

I am a barely reformed nailbiter so am not vain about my hands and nails and have never minded getting dirty. I always have a bar of Lava soap at the kitchen sink for cleanup. Actually, my mother used to bathe me with Lava when I was a grubby child.

I would have to say I'm #3, but then again I sometimes can't find my gloves to begin with. Sometimes I just "take a walk" through the garden and that's when I need to do something; pull a weed for example and of course I don't have my gloves.

I am a number three - unfortunately the time laps between starting with gloves and then putting them somewhere is very short - but I always have them with me... somewhere. (I thought you were going to post about rakes and hoes - hands was nice)Karen

I think I am a 3. I start off with gloves because I don't like the dirt under my nails and because our soil is very sticky with clay - but after a bit the gloves come off - it is like I have to warm myself up to the idea of getting dirty, but once I do - I love it! :)

For many years I was #4 but my hands now look older than the rest of me from the abuse. I've become #3 and have several pairs of gloves. I still constantly take them on and off throughout my time in the garden.

There's nothing like "feeling" the dirt. I work in a light amount of olive oil to moisten my hands after a long day in the garden. It works wonders!Meems @Hoe&Shovel

Well, if I were to average it out, I'd say most gardeners are around a 3.5. It just goes to show, you can tell a gardener by their hands. No 1's or 2's in this bunch. We all (mostly) seem to relish the idea of getting our hands dirty!

Back in July of 07, I wrote a blog entry about hands (of which I was once vain) and what they say about the gardener. If you would like to read it, hop on over to: http://www.bannersbyricki.com/archives/category/gardening/page/2 and scroll down to forget the green thumbI always enjoy the lively discussions provoked by your topics.

Right now I have some dirt on my left index finger and thumb that's been there for three days and won't wash out.

I'm a 4, 3ish type too. My skin, especially my hands, get very dry and hand lotion is my life. I like to wear gloves, but the pairs I have now are ratty and old, and I'd rather not wear them because they are gross inside. I should buy new gloves but when I'm shopping at the nursery, gloves always seem like a want, not a need.

I hate it when I'm wearing gloves, and they get wet and my hands are inside wet garden gloves.

Thanks I found this link http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-2766142-10444232 and got free shipping on my new mantis tiller though mantis direct. Your info helped me pick on out. I figured I would send you this link to show where I got the free shipping. Thanks Jen

Alright I'm a #2 ... I started off as a #3 but then I get scratches that get really red (I may be allergic) and then I get paper cuts from the grasses ... blah blah. I know, I'm a wimp (it has nothing to do with a manicure believe me!). If I'm doing something delicate, I will go barehanded. But if I'm cleaning up, then the work gloves go on.

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